{"id":850,"date":"2025-10-30T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marglobal.org\/?p=850"},"modified":"2025-11-13T21:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:50:50","slug":"from-the-river-to-memory-the-strength-of-women-in-defense-of-their-territories-and-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marglobal.org\/en\/2025\/10\/30\/from-the-river-to-memory-the-strength-of-women-in-defense-of-their-territories-and-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"From the River to Memory: The Strength of Women in Defense of their Territories and Cultures\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Carolina Scorce \/ MAB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cWhoever kills the land, also kills us\u201d: Berta C\u00e1ceres\u2019 cry echoes beyond Honduran borders. Photo: Press Release<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Daughter of Austra Berta Flores, a midwife and nurse elected mayor of La Esperanza, governor of Intibuc\u00e1, and national deputy of Honduras, environmental and indigenous leader Berta C\u00e1ceres grew up surrounded by the strength of other women and a sense of community responsibility. From her earliest steps, she recognized that “the land is life,” and that defending the territory means defending the existence of her own people as an ethnic group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rural teacher and student activist in the 1980s, when Central America was bubbling with coups and guerrilla warfare, Berta helped found the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) in 1993, at the age of 22. The organization would soon become the heart of the Lenca resistance against megaprojects, mining, and dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This direct confrontation with the advance of capital reached its peak against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam, which threatened to dam the Gualcarque River, a source of livelihood for the community, and of existence itself, as it is considered sacred to the Lenca. Alongside the communities, Berta did everything she could to protect the river and her people. She helped erect roadblocks, set up pickets, occupy properties, and investigate documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure on companies and financiers was so intense that, in 2013, the Chinese giant Sinohydro, the main financier, abandoned the project. In 2015, Berta was recognized with the Goldman Environmental Prize, a kind of “Green Nobel Prize.” The price was high. Among 33 official complaints of death threats, Berta said that persecution had become part of the routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assassination of Berta C\u00e1ceres<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On July 15, 2013, COPINH, at the time led by Berta, held a protest against the construction of the hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River. This river, in Western Honduras, is considered sacred by the Lenca indigenous community, but no one from the company interested in the construction had consulted the population. The company, Desarrollos Energ\u00e9ticos Sociedad An\u00f3nima (DESA), is owned and controlled by one of the most powerful families in Honduras: the Atala Zablahs. The Honduran army, at the request of DESA, was protecting the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the protest, soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators and killed Tom\u00e1s Garc\u00eda. Almost three years later, on March 2, 2016, gunmen stormed Berta C\u00e1ceres’s house and assassinated her. Her death was followed by the assassination, on March 15, 2016, of Nelson No\u00e9 Garc\u00eda, also from COPINH. On October 18, 2016, the assassinations of Jos\u00e9 \u00c1ngel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George, of the Unified Peasant Movement of Agu\u00e1n (MUCA), took place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the assassination, a joint campaign to demand justice was launched by COPINH and the C\u00e1ceres family, with the support of organizations around the world. Even under immense international pressure, Honduran investigators at the time limited themselves to arresting the main perpetrators of the shootings and some of their immediate masterminds. Berta’s killer and some of those responsible were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 30 to 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convictions, however, did not close the case. None of the masterminds of the crime were arrested. The evidence presented in court \u2013 including telephone records and WhatsApp conversations \u2013 shows, quite conclusively, that these assassins (many of them veterans of the Honduran army) acted on the orders of DESA executives. None of the company’s owners, including members of the oligarchic Atala Zablah family, who were part of these WhatsApp chats, have been charged with any crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, Roberto David Castillo Mej\u00eda was convicted as an intellectual co-author, for his role as president of the DESA company. Despite the convictions, activists are pushing for trials against the Atala Zablah family (the owners of DESA) who are accused of having commanded the criminal structure behind the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFear Cannot Paralyze Us\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the time of her mother’s assassination, Bertha Z\u00faniga, affectionately known as Bertita to everyone, was 25 years old and pursuing a master’s degree in Mexico. The young woman took on her mother’s legacy of struggle, interrupted her studies, and assumed the general coordination of COPINH. At 27, she was already recognized as one of the strongest voices of Latin American indigenous youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cFear cannot paralyze us. This is a fight for the rights of an ancient people, but also for justice for my mother and for personal reparation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bertha Zuniga lives in La Esperanza, next to the sacred river, and always has her bags packed for international travel. Photo: Press release<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bertita is a young woman with tender eyes and a firm voice. She learned early on that community life and political struggle are inseparable, neither as a way of life nor as the space where that life is lived. Just as she herself is inseparable from the river and the land that give meaning to her journey. She grew up among rivers and mountains, protest signs, and the smell of tear gas launched by the police. She remembers her mother taking the children to the villages so they would learn to value the land and their roots. \u201cThe threats were so frequent that we ended up finding it normal to live like that. Living in the forest and being threatened was equally normal for us,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Bertita dedicates her time to working in the COPINH office, visiting communities, and constantly traveling to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, where she follows up on demands for justice and political negotiations. An important leader, this young woman transcends the boundaries of her community, city, and country, frequently attending international events where she does crucial work holding funders from the Global North accountable for the appropriation of Indigenous lands and natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this is possible without the company and care she gives and receives from her grandmother, Austra Berta Flores, now 92 years old. Bertita was raised by her mother and her mother’s mother, and lived with her matriarch for 17 years. Today, she takes care of her grandmother, time she insists on dedicating to the person who helped shape her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are connected. I never stop being with her and taking care of her. Just as I always want to be here in this corner, in the middle of this forest, with these people. If necessary, I gladly pack my bags and leave for the struggles that need to be fought elsewhere. Because if capital and violence are organized around the world, our hope and work must be too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, her routine is marked by insecurity. \u201cDespite some changes in the current government, the structural problems remain and the violence against land defenders continues,\u201d she says. She denounces an aggressive criminalization campaign: more than 3,200 publications, some with fake images of her bloodied face, produced with artificial intelligence. \u201cThey even released confidential information about my precautionary measures, obtained from a state institution. This increases our vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International and Popular Struggle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the helm of COPINH, Bertita expanded the battles beyond Honduran borders. In 2018, she filed a complaint against the Netherlands Development Bank (FMO), accusing it of co-responsibility for her mother’s murder, since the bank financed DESA even after knowing about the threats against the Lenca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, nine people have been convicted of the crime, including company executives. But, for Bertha, these advances only occurred due to international pressure. \u201cJustice will not come from the will of a state that persecuted my mother. If we don’t maintain global attention, the case may go unpunished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bertita keeps her mother’s memory alive through a work ethic passed down by Bertha to the entire community. Photo: Personal archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her presence in global forums aims precisely to prevent them from being forgotten. \u201cOrganizing popular movements internationally is an act of hope. The problems we face in Honduras are similar to those in many parts of the world. Gathering, analyzing, and sharing strategies is essential, even without a single formula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Honduran Coup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of the C\u00e1ceres women and the struggle of the Lenca people is dramatized through the coup d’\u00e9tat in Honduras. On June 28, 2009, President Manuel Zelaya was deposed by the military and sent to Costa Rica, on the same day he intended to hold a popular consultation to convene a Constitutional Convention. His opponents claimed that the initiative was an attempt to seek re-election, prohibited by the Constitution. Congress, opposed to Zelaya, declared “abandonment of office” and appointed Roberto Micheletti as interim president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coup was widely condemned by international organizations \u2013 the UN, the OAS, and Latin American governments \u2013 but never reversed. Elections held months later, under heavy repression, brought Porfirio Lobo to power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences were profound: increased political violence, persecution of social movements, censorship of the press, and assassinations of leaders. The coup opened a cycle of instability that still deeply marks the country, with a high rate of violence. Years later, Zelaya returned to the country and became an active political figure, while his wife, Xiomara Castro, was elected president in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

In 2009, Berta C\u00e1ceres reflected on the motives behind the coup: \u201cBecause the rich, the oligarchs, the far-right \u2013 advised by the Miami mafia, the Cuban and Venezuelan counter-revolution, which [also] advise these coup plotters \u2013 what worried them was the possibility that the Honduran people could decide on strategic resources, such as water, forests, land; on our sovereignty, labor rights, the minimum wage, women’s rights \u2013 so that they become constitutional rights \u2013 the self-determination of Indigenous and Black peoples. So many things that we, as the Honduran people, dream of: the possibility of having an inclusive, democratic state and society, with equity and direct participation. The coup-plotting oligarchs know all this. That is why it is a coup. And this coup d’\u00e9tat is against all the processes of liberation of our continent.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The C\u00e1ceres Women as a Work Ethic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bertita sees her mother’s legacy in all spaces, both within and outside the Lenca people. In the COPINH communities, Berta C\u00e1ceres’ stories continue to be told as inspiration. Her voice, as a radio broadcaster and leader, continues to echo through popular radio stations. Her struggle is visible in the strength of Indigenous, Black, and peasant women, who challenge patriarchy every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the immediate future, Bertha is preparing for the 4th International Meeting of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis and the People’s Summit, events parallel to COP30, which will be held in Bel\u00e9m, in the Amazon. Before that, she will carry out activities in Colombia, before traveling to Brazil. \u201cI\u2019m already starting to pack my bags in advance and heading down,\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother transformed COPINH into a school of struggle and work ethic. Today, many young people are in the organization because they were touched by her message.\u201d A message that reaches hundreds of indigenous people through the voice of Bertha the radio broadcaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOP30 is a great opportunity for civil society to exert pressure. We need to denounce the failure to implement climate measures and the false environmental solutions. I hope Brazil will have a strong voice, committed to the interests of the population, as Colombia has been in relation to Palestine,\u201d says Bertha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the global situation, Bertha doesn’t hide her concern: \u201cHuman rights institutions have lost credibility by not responding to crises like the genocide in Palestine, but I believe that critical situations can lead to a greater social reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Berta C\u00e1ceres, the mother, said that \u201cwhoever kills the earth, kills us too,\u201d Bertha Z\u00faniga, the daughter, repeats, in her own voice, that the project is not just hers: \u201cI think so, this is my life’s mission. But it’s not just mine. It’s many people’s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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